Pride Parade and Giants combine for Sunday BART ridership record

Pride Parade and Giants combine for Sunday BART ridership record

Almost a quarter million people took BART yesterday, setting a record for Sunday ridership at 247,936. That’s 23,477 more than the previous record for a Sunday set June 28, 2008, which not coincidentally, was also a day that combined the Pride Parade and a San Francisco Giants game.

“BART was proud to break our Sunday ridership record by carrying so many riders to the Pride Parade and the Giants game yesterday,” BART Board President Bob Franklin said. “When big events gridlock Bay Area freeways, people are confident to rely on BART, which means replacing our oldest-in-the-nation train cars is critically important.”

BART prepared for the record ridership with extra trains and extra train cars. After all, BART has lots of experience in serving the tens of thousands of people who celebrate Pride weekend. Of BART’s top five highest ridership Sundays, four have occurred on Pride Parade Sundays (please see the table below).

BART’s involvement in Pride weekend goes beyond the all-important task of providing safe and reliable transportation. The BARTmobile, staffed with BART volunteers, made a splash in the parade itself, sporting some festive decorations just to add to the fun.